WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:01.040 Now one of your pudding. 2 00:00:01.919 --> 00:00:04.200 I got a string going on here, something. 3 00:00:03.960 --> 00:00:04.879 Just because my dog. 4 00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:08.160 Something killed your dog. My dog. We're flying through the 5 00:00:08.199 --> 00:00:13.359 air over the tree. I don't know how it did it, Okay, Damn, 6 00:00:13.480 --> 00:00:15.960 I'm really confused. All I saw was my dog coming 7 00:00:15.960 --> 00:00:17.160 over the fence and he was dead. 8 00:00:17.160 --> 00:00:18.920 And once you hit the ground like, I didn't see 9 00:00:18.920 --> 00:00:19.359 any cars. 10 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:37.880 All I saw was my dog coming over the fence. Sat, 11 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:38.960 what are you putting? 12 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:43.759 We got some wonder or something crawling around out here? 13 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:52.240 Did you see what it was or was it was? 14 00:00:52.320 --> 00:00:54.719 Standing enough. I'm out here looking through the window now 15 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:57.479 and I don't see anything. I don't want to go outside. 16 00:00:58.240 --> 00:00:59.560 Jesus Quice, you better. 17 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:06.079 Hello, get the body out here when I'm out there. 18 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:08.840 I thought of Amna about Tech forty nine. I don't 19 00:01:08.840 --> 00:01:10.159 know easy Ann out there? 20 00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:11.359 Yeah, I'm walking right. 21 00:01:11.319 --> 00:01:16.359 Head uh, Chapter thirty, Witnesses to Wonder. The months that 22 00:01:16.439 --> 00:01:20.439 followed were the most productive of my podcasting career. Armed 23 00:01:20.439 --> 00:01:23.400 with the information from the Men in Black's folder, used 24 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:27.000 on my own terms as Daniel had suggested, and driven 25 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:30.319 by the Mount Saint Helen's revelations that proved decades of 26 00:01:30.359 --> 00:01:33.560 government cover up, I threw myself into the work with 27 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:39.280 renewed purpose. The interviews became sharper, more focused, the episodes 28 00:01:39.319 --> 00:01:43.599 became more substantive, The audience continued to grow, and the 29 00:01:43.640 --> 00:01:48.159 stories kept coming. From northern Minnesota, I interviewed a conservation 30 00:01:48.280 --> 00:01:52.359 officer named Margaret Lynfist, who'd spent thirty years patrolling the 31 00:01:52.359 --> 00:01:56.079 boundary waters. I've seen things up there that I can't explain, 32 00:01:56.200 --> 00:02:00.239 Margaret said, her Scandinavian accent softened by decades in the 33 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:04.079 American Midwest. Things that don't fit in any guidebook or 34 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:07.959 training manual. Can you give me an example? The winter 35 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:10.039 of two thousand and eight, I was on a solo 36 00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:13.280 patrol near the Canadian border, checking ice conditions on some 37 00:02:13.319 --> 00:02:17.360 of the larger lakes. It was January, maybe twenty below zero, 38 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:21.199 wind chill even worse, not a day when anything should 39 00:02:21.240 --> 00:02:22.080 be moving around. 40 00:02:22.840 --> 00:02:23.439 What happened. 41 00:02:24.280 --> 00:02:27.439 I was on the ice halfway across Gunflint Lake when 42 00:02:27.479 --> 00:02:30.039 I saw something on the shore. At first I thought 43 00:02:30.039 --> 00:02:32.479 it was a moose. We get big ones up there, 44 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:37.599 but the proportions were wrong too upright, two human shaped. 45 00:02:38.520 --> 00:02:39.199 What did it do? 46 00:02:40.120 --> 00:02:42.560 It watched me stood there at the tree line for 47 00:02:42.599 --> 00:02:46.080 maybe five minutes just watching. I had binoculars with me, 48 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:48.479 but every time I tried to focus on it, my 49 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:52.039 hand started shaking. I couldn't get a clear look from 50 00:02:52.120 --> 00:02:55.479 the cold, That's what I told myself. But it wasn't 51 00:02:55.479 --> 00:03:00.919 the cold. It was fear, pure, primal fear. Every instinct 52 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:02.840 I had was screaming at me to get away from 53 00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:06.800 that thing, whatever it was. How did the encounter end? 54 00:03:07.639 --> 00:03:10.879 It turned and walked into the forest, disappeared between one 55 00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:13.759 step and the next. I finished my patrol as fast 56 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:15.479 as I could and didn't go back to that lake 57 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:20.000 for two years. Have you had other encounters since? Nothing 58 00:03:20.120 --> 00:03:24.120 visual but sounds. Yes, how's in the night wood? 59 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:24.560 Knocking? 60 00:03:25.080 --> 00:03:27.199 Things moving through the brush that are too big and 61 00:03:27.240 --> 00:03:30.960 too quiet to be any animal. I know they're up there, Brian, 62 00:03:31.400 --> 00:03:34.039 in the deep wilderness, and they've been there a lot 63 00:03:34.120 --> 00:03:37.599 longer than we have. From Mississippi. I spoke with a 64 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:41.360 man named Samuel Jackson, no relation to the actor, as 65 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:43.840 he was quick to point out, who'd had an encounter 66 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:46.879 in the bottom lands near the Big Black River. I 67 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:50.199 was running a trot line for catfish. Samuel said his 68 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:53.560 voice was deep, unhurried, with the patience of a man 69 00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:56.520 who'd spent his life on the water. This was back 70 00:03:56.520 --> 00:03:59.439 in ninety six. I'd been fishing that stretch of river 71 00:03:59.479 --> 00:04:03.360 for twenty year years, knew every bend and sandbar. But 72 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:08.360 that night something was different, different, how quiet? 73 00:04:08.639 --> 00:04:09.319 Too quiet. 74 00:04:10.039 --> 00:04:13.599 The frog stopped singing, the owl stopped calling, even the 75 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:17.040 river seemed to hush itself. And then I heard it, 76 00:04:17.079 --> 00:04:22.319 this splashing coming from upstream, big splashing, like a horse crossing. 77 00:04:22.879 --> 00:04:26.000 But there weren't any horses around for miles. Did you 78 00:04:26.040 --> 00:04:29.319 see anything? I did came around a bend in my 79 00:04:29.399 --> 00:04:32.399 john boat and saw it standing in the shallows, seven 80 00:04:32.439 --> 00:04:36.519 feet tall, maybe more, covered in dark hair, dripping wet. 81 00:04:37.160 --> 00:04:39.600 It had a fish in its hands, a big channel 82 00:04:39.639 --> 00:04:42.879 cat must have been thirty pounds, and it was eating 83 00:04:42.920 --> 00:04:45.759 it raw, just tearing into it like a dog with 84 00:04:45.839 --> 00:04:49.879 a bone. What happened when it saw you? It froze, 85 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:53.560 looked at me with these yellow eyes. I'll never forget 86 00:04:53.560 --> 00:04:57.759 those eyes, reflecting my lantern light like mirrors. We stared 87 00:04:57.800 --> 00:05:00.480 at each other for what felt like forever, and then 88 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:03.800 it made this sound, low and rumbling, like a warning. 89 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:07.399 I took the hint, turned my boat around, and paddled 90 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:10.480 like hell back to the landing. Did you ever return 91 00:05:10.519 --> 00:05:14.319 to that spot every season? Still fish there to this day. 92 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:18.000 Never saw that creature again, but I feel it sometimes 93 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:22.920 watching from the banks, keeping tabs on me. Samuel laughed, 94 00:05:23.240 --> 00:05:26.800 a deep, genuine sound. I leave an extra catfish for 95 00:05:26.839 --> 00:05:29.920 it now, just in case. Call it rent for fishing 96 00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:33.480 in its territory. From the mountains of West Virginia, I 97 00:05:33.480 --> 00:05:37.079 interviewed a coal miner named Thomas Adkins, whose encounter had 98 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:41.079 happened deep underground. You heard me right, Thomas said, when 99 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:44.800 I asked him to repeat himself. Underground in the mines, 100 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:48.920 tell me about it. This was back in eighty nine. 101 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:51.000 I was working the night shift at a deep mine 102 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:54.240 near Beckley. We were opening a new section following a 103 00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:56.879 seam that went back into the mountain for miles and 104 00:05:56.920 --> 00:06:01.000 we hit something. What do you mean, hit something? A void, 105 00:06:01.560 --> 00:06:05.000 a cave natural formed right in the middle of the scene. 106 00:06:05.720 --> 00:06:08.160 The cutting machine broke through the wall and suddenly there 107 00:06:08.199 --> 00:06:12.319 was this opening, maybe ten feet wide, going back into darkness. 108 00:06:12.680 --> 00:06:14.879 What did you find at first? 109 00:06:14.920 --> 00:06:15.240 Nothing? 110 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:19.120 Just a cave, big and empty. The foreman sent me 111 00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:21.319 and two other guys in to check if it was safe, 112 00:06:21.639 --> 00:06:25.040 if it connected to any other workings. We had our headlamps, 113 00:06:25.240 --> 00:06:30.680 our methane detectors, standard procedure, and about one hundred yards 114 00:06:30.680 --> 00:06:34.319 in we found tracks, footprints in the mud, bare feet, 115 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:37.959 human shaped, but way too big. We followed them deeper, 116 00:06:38.279 --> 00:06:42.360 and that's when we started hearing it, hearing what breathing, 117 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:48.240 heavy breathing echoing off the walls, and movement, something shuffling 118 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:51.480 around in the dark, just beyond the reach of our lights. 119 00:06:51.759 --> 00:06:55.040 We could smell it too, that smell everyone talks about, 120 00:06:55.519 --> 00:06:57.439 like a wet dog and a garbage dump. 121 00:06:57.199 --> 00:06:59.120 Had a baby. What did you do? 122 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:02.360 We got the hell out, ran all the way back 123 00:07:02.399 --> 00:07:05.240 to the main tunnel, told the foreman what we'd found, 124 00:07:05.639 --> 00:07:09.120 what we'd heard. He didn't believe us, of course, called 125 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:12.800 us a bunch of superstitious fools. What happened to the cave? 126 00:07:13.639 --> 00:07:16.879 They sealed it up, built a concrete wall across the opening, 127 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:19.439 and never spoke of it again. But I know what 128 00:07:19.519 --> 00:07:22.120 I heard in there, Brian. I know what was living 129 00:07:22.120 --> 00:07:25.480 in that darkness, and I wonder sometimes if it's still 130 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:31.079 there waiting listening to us dig From the Bayous of Louisiana. 131 00:07:31.160 --> 00:07:34.000 I spoke with a woman named Celestine Thibodeaux, who was 132 00:07:34.040 --> 00:07:37.360 a practicing trader, a folk healer in the Cajun tradition. 133 00:07:38.279 --> 00:07:41.000 The lou garoo is what we call them, Celestine said. 134 00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:45.399 Her voice was thick with the accent of the Aischafalaya words, 135 00:07:45.480 --> 00:07:49.519 rolling together like the slow rivers of her homeland. The werewolf, 136 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:53.240 the outsiders say, But that's not quite right. They're older 137 00:07:53.319 --> 00:07:57.040 than werewolves, older than any story we brought from France. 138 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:01.040 Tell me about your experiences with them. I've seen them 139 00:08:01.079 --> 00:08:04.920 all my life. My grandmother saw them, Her grandmother saw them. 140 00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:08.240 They've always been here in the deep Bayous, where the 141 00:08:08.279 --> 00:08:11.519 water is black and the cypress grows thick. We don't 142 00:08:11.560 --> 00:08:15.480 fear them, We respect them. Have they ever harmed anyone? 143 00:08:16.360 --> 00:08:20.079 Only those who deserve it? Poachers sometimes men who take 144 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:23.399 more than they need from the swamp. The loogaroo doesn't 145 00:08:23.480 --> 00:08:27.120 like waste, doesn't like greed. But if you live right, 146 00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:29.600 if you take only what you need and give back 147 00:08:29.639 --> 00:08:33.080 what you can, they leave you alone. Sometimes they even 148 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:37.039 help help how My grandmother told a story about a 149 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:40.159 child who got lost in the swamp three years old, 150 00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:44.120 wandered away from home during a flood. Search parties looked 151 00:08:44.120 --> 00:08:48.279 for days found nothing, and then on the fourth morning, 152 00:08:48.759 --> 00:08:51.399 the child appeared at the edge of the bayou, safe 153 00:08:51.399 --> 00:08:54.600 and sound. Said a big hairy man had carried her 154 00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:57.759 through the water, kept her warm at night, brought her 155 00:08:57.799 --> 00:08:59.120 back when the flood receded. 156 00:08:59.720 --> 00:09:00.960 Do you believe that story? 157 00:09:01.759 --> 00:09:04.960 I know it's true. That child was my grandmother, and 158 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:07.039 she never forgot what the lu Garu did for her. 159 00:09:07.639 --> 00:09:10.519 She spent her whole life respecting them, teaching us to 160 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:14.039 respect them. It's why I'm talking to you now, because 161 00:09:14.039 --> 00:09:16.679 the world needs to know that these beings aren't monsters. 162 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:21.080 They're guardians, protectors, and they've been watching over us longer 163 00:09:21.080 --> 00:09:25.000 than we can remember. Each interview added another thread to 164 00:09:25.039 --> 00:09:28.919 the tapestry. Each witness added another voice to the chorus. 165 00:09:29.720 --> 00:09:32.399 The picture that was emerging was more complex than I'd 166 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:36.320 ever imagined. Creatures not just hiding in the wilderness, but 167 00:09:36.440 --> 00:09:40.600 woven into the fabric of human culture, present in our stories, 168 00:09:40.919 --> 00:09:45.200 our legends, our deepest memories. They'd been with us all along, 169 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:50.039 and now finally we were beginning to see them. Chapter 170 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:54.320 thirty one, The storm gathers. The television offer came back 171 00:09:54.360 --> 00:09:58.200 around in the spring. Amanda, the producer from Meridian productions 172 00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:01.960 reached out again after a year of sar The industry, 173 00:10:02.120 --> 00:10:06.759 she explained, had changed. Streaming platforms were hungrier than ever 174 00:10:06.799 --> 00:10:11.639 for content. The success of certain paranormal and unexplained phenomena 175 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:16.080 series had created an opening that hadn't existed before. We 176 00:10:16.120 --> 00:10:18.879 can do this right, she said, during a video call 177 00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:23.000 that lasted two hours. I've watched every episode of your podcast. 178 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:26.840 I've read the transcripts. I understand what you're trying to do, 179 00:10:27.240 --> 00:10:28.600 and I want to help you do it on a 180 00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:32.559 bigger scale. I've seen what television does to stories like these, 181 00:10:32.639 --> 00:10:37.799 I said, the sensationalism, the manipulation, the focus on drama 182 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:41.759 over truth. That's not what I'm proposing. Think of this 183 00:10:41.799 --> 00:10:47.200 as a documentary series, long form, substantive, respectful. We let 184 00:10:47.240 --> 00:10:51.519 the witnesses tell their stories. We present the evidence without editorializing. 185 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:55.279 We treat the subject with the seriousness it deserves. 186 00:10:55.679 --> 00:10:57.200 And the network will allow that. 187 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:01.519 The network is desperate for authentic com The audience is 188 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:05.360 tired of fake reality shows and manufactured drama. They want 189 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:08.879 something real. Your podcast proves there's a market for it. 190 00:11:09.879 --> 00:11:13.080 I thought about it, thought about the reach, the resources, 191 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:16.200 the possibility of telling these stories. To millions of people 192 00:11:16.360 --> 00:11:19.440 who would never find the podcast on their own. I 193 00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:23.399 need to maintain editorial control, I said, Finally, final cut 194 00:11:23.399 --> 00:11:27.919 on every episode. No interviews used without the witness's explicit consent, 195 00:11:28.600 --> 00:11:34.440 No misleading edits, no manufactured drama, no sensationalism. Those are 196 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:39.480 steep terms. Those are my terms. Take them or leave them. 197 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:43.559 Amanda was quiet for a moment, then she smiled, I'll 198 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:46.320 make it work. This is too important to let network 199 00:11:46.360 --> 00:11:50.720 politics get in the way. We shook hands virtually at least, 200 00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:55.159 and the deal was set. Sasquatch Odyssey was going to television. 201 00:11:55.679 --> 00:11:59.000 The first season would feature ten episodes, each one focused 202 00:11:59.080 --> 00:12:02.600 on a different region and its encounters. We'd start in 203 00:12:02.639 --> 00:12:06.720 the Pacific Northwest, the heartland of Sasquatch legend, and work 204 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:10.600 our way across the country. I'd conduct the interviews, provide 205 00:12:10.600 --> 00:12:13.559 the narration, serve as the guide for audiences who were 206 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:17.039 new to this world. The production was bigger than anything 207 00:12:17.039 --> 00:12:23.519 I'd experienced. Camera crews, sound technicians, editors, producers, a budget 208 00:12:23.519 --> 00:12:26.360 that dwarfed what I'd spent in three years of podcasting 209 00:12:27.080 --> 00:12:30.720 resources to investigate cases I'd never been able to pursue before. 210 00:12:31.480 --> 00:12:34.720 But the core of the show remained the same, the witnesses, 211 00:12:35.279 --> 00:12:39.679 their stories, their truth. We filmed the first episode in 212 00:12:39.720 --> 00:12:44.600 the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State, dense rainforest, ancient trees, 213 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:48.600 a landscape that seemed to belong to another age. The 214 00:12:48.600 --> 00:12:51.919 witnesses we interviewed there had stories that went back generations. 215 00:12:52.440 --> 00:12:55.320 Families who'd lived alongside the creatures for one hundred years, 216 00:12:55.759 --> 00:12:58.080 who knew their territories and their habits the way you 217 00:12:58.159 --> 00:13:01.799 might know a neighbor. They're not animals, one elderly woman 218 00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:04.200 told us, sitting on the porch of a cabin her 219 00:13:04.200 --> 00:13:09.279 great grandfather had built. They're people different from us, but people, 220 00:13:09.919 --> 00:13:13.360 and they've been here longer than we have. We're the newcomers. 221 00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:17.360 We're the ones who don't belong. The second episode took 222 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:20.360 us to the Ozarks, where Bobby Dean Carver served as 223 00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:23.759 our local guide. He'd become something of a celebrity since 224 00:13:23.799 --> 00:13:28.120 his podcast Interview, fielding inquiries from researchers and media outlets 225 00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:32.080 around the world, but he turned everyone else down. You're 226 00:13:32.120 --> 00:13:34.320 the only one I trust, he told me as we 227 00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:37.480 hiked into the hollers where he'd had his encounter. You 228 00:13:37.480 --> 00:13:40.639 don't make us look like fools. You don't twist our words, 229 00:13:41.159 --> 00:13:44.679 You just let us tell our stories. We filmed interviews 230 00:13:44.679 --> 00:13:48.360 with a dozen witnesses from the region, hunters, farmers, hikers, 231 00:13:48.440 --> 00:13:51.200 children who'd grown up seeing things their parents couldn't explain. 232 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:55.879 The consistency of their accounts was remarkable. The same creatures, 233 00:13:56.200 --> 00:13:59.200 the same behaviors, the same sense of being watched by 234 00:13:59.240 --> 00:14:02.279 something that didn't want to be seen. By the time 235 00:14:02.320 --> 00:14:05.360 we finished filming in Arkansas, I knew we had something special, 236 00:14:06.039 --> 00:14:09.519 something that would reach people in ways the podcast never could. 237 00:14:10.759 --> 00:14:14.000 The third episode brought us back to the Pizga National Forest. 238 00:14:14.759 --> 00:14:18.080 It was strange returning to these mountains as a television 239 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:22.600 host rather than a sheriff. The trails I'd walked, the clearings, 240 00:14:22.600 --> 00:14:26.200 I'd searched, the cave where Austin had vanished without a trace. 241 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:29.559 All of it was familiar, but seen through new eyes. 242 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:33.720 We filmed near some of the locations connected to his disappearance. 243 00:14:34.519 --> 00:14:38.840 The Austin Reeves case remained officially unsolved, another mystery in 244 00:14:38.879 --> 00:14:43.039 these ancient mountains, But the evidence we'd gathered, the mount 245 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:47.320 Saint Helen's documents, the witness testimonies, the pattern of government 246 00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:50.440 cover ups all pointed to creatures that had been here 247 00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:53.919 far longer than any of us. Austin had gone looking 248 00:14:53.960 --> 00:14:57.240 for them, whether he'd found them, whether he was still 249 00:14:57.240 --> 00:14:58.200 alive somewhere in. 250 00:14:58.159 --> 00:14:59.200 These vast forests. 251 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:03.840 Aimed the question that haunted me, the missing hikers, the 252 00:15:03.879 --> 00:15:07.840 strange sounds, the footprints that appeared on remote trails and 253 00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:12.559 vanished just as mysteriously, And stay tuned for more sasquatch 254 00:15:12.600 --> 00:15:13.039 ott to see. 255 00:15:13.080 --> 00:15:13.919 We'll be right back. 256 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:21.600 After these messages, Zach appeared on camera sharing the research 257 00:15:21.639 --> 00:15:25.679 he'd spent years compiling. He was nervous at first. He'd 258 00:15:25.679 --> 00:15:29.759 spent his career avoiding attention, staying under the radar, But 259 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:33.519 as the interview progressed, he relaxed, his passion for the 260 00:15:33.559 --> 00:15:37.440 truth overcoming his reluctance to be seen. The cover up 261 00:15:37.480 --> 00:15:40.840 is real, he told the camera. I've documented it for decades, 262 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:47.080 Files suppressed, witnesses, silenced, evidence confiscated. Somebody doesn't want us 263 00:15:47.080 --> 00:15:49.480 to know what's out there. But the truth is coming 264 00:15:49.480 --> 00:15:53.240 out anyway. It can't be stopped. We were filming the 265 00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:57.279 fourth episode in the Pacific Northwest when everything changed. It 266 00:15:57.360 --> 00:16:00.960 started with a phone call from Daniel. You need to 267 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:05.879 come home. Now, what's wrong? They came back, the men 268 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:10.720 in black. But this time his voice broke. This time 269 00:16:10.759 --> 00:16:13.799 they didn't just threaten, They did something. 270 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:16.360 Are you okay? I'm fine? 271 00:16:16.840 --> 00:16:21.039 But the house, Brian, the house is gone. What do 272 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:26.200 you mean gone? Burned? Burned to the ground. Everything we had, 273 00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:32.320 all your research, all the equipment, everything, it's gone. I 274 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:35.240 was on a plane within hours, leaving the production crew 275 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:39.279 to finish without me. The flight felt endless, every minute 276 00:16:39.320 --> 00:16:43.200 stretching into an eternity of fear and rage and helplessness. 277 00:16:43.559 --> 00:16:46.440 When I finally arrived at our property, what I saw 278 00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:51.120 broke something inside me. The house was a ruin, blackened timbers, 279 00:16:51.320 --> 00:16:55.519 collapsed walls, ash where our life had been. The studio 280 00:16:55.519 --> 00:16:58.720 where I'd recorded hundreds of interviews, the office where i'd 281 00:16:58.720 --> 00:17:01.519 built the community, the bedroom where Daniel and I had 282 00:17:01.559 --> 00:17:04.759 dreamed of the future, all of it reduced to rubble. 283 00:17:05.559 --> 00:17:08.279 Daniel was standing at the edge of the debris, staring 284 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:11.319 at what remained. I wrapped my arms around him and 285 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:15.839 held on. I'm sorry, he whispered, I'm so sorry. I 286 00:17:15.880 --> 00:17:19.359 should have been here. I should have This isn't your fault, 287 00:17:19.839 --> 00:17:22.599 this is them. This is what they do when they 288 00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:25.720 can't control the narrative. What are we going to do? 289 00:17:26.839 --> 00:17:29.200 I looked at the ruins of our home, at the 290 00:17:29.240 --> 00:17:32.680 ashes of everything we'd built, and I felt something rising 291 00:17:32.759 --> 00:17:37.759 in me, not despair, but determination, a fire that matched 292 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:41.640 the one they'd set. We rebuild, I said, and we 293 00:17:41.720 --> 00:17:45.079 keep going. They want us to give up, to be scared, 294 00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:48.640 to crawl away and hide, but that's not who we are, 295 00:17:49.240 --> 00:17:52.720 That's not who I am. The podcast is backed up, 296 00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:56.839 the interviews, the research, the community. It's all in the cloud. 297 00:17:57.359 --> 00:17:59.799 They burned down our house, but they didn't destroy our work. 298 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:04.480 They didn't destroy us. Daniel looked at me, tears streaming 299 00:18:04.519 --> 00:18:08.119 down his face. You're not going to stop. I'm never 300 00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:11.200 going to stop, not until the truth is out, not 301 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:14.359 until everyone knows what's been hidden, not until they can't 302 00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:17.759 silence us anymore. I turned away from the ruins and 303 00:18:17.799 --> 00:18:21.519 pulled out my phone. Called Amanda. We need to talk. 304 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:25.319 I said, something's happened and the world needs to see it. 305 00:18:26.359 --> 00:18:28.640 The television series was about to get a lot more 306 00:18:28.680 --> 00:18:33.960 complicated and a lot more dangerous. Chapter thirty two, Ashes 307 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:38.599 and Embers. The fire investigation was a farce. The county sheriff, 308 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:42.680 my replacement. A man named Harold Weston, who'd run unopposed 309 00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:45.440 after I declined to seek re election, showed up with 310 00:18:45.480 --> 00:18:49.319 his deputies, took some photographs, asked a few questions, and 311 00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:53.920 declared the fire accidental faulty wiring. He said, these old 312 00:18:53.960 --> 00:18:58.519 mountain houses were fire traps. Sheriff Weston, I said, keeping 313 00:18:58.519 --> 00:19:01.160 my voice leveled, despite the race building in my chest. 314 00:19:01.799 --> 00:19:04.920 Our house was built in twenty nineteen. The wiring was 315 00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:08.359 inspected six months ago, and there were accelerant marks on 316 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:12.279 the foundation that your investigators seem to have missed. Weston's 317 00:19:12.279 --> 00:19:16.119 face tightened. You're not a law enforcement officer anymore, Brian. 318 00:19:16.759 --> 00:19:20.960 Leave the investigating to the professionals. The professionals who concluded 319 00:19:20.960 --> 00:19:23.640 a two year old house caught fire from faulty wiring, 320 00:19:24.519 --> 00:19:28.680 The professionals who have jurisdiction here. He stepped closer, lowering 321 00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:32.240 his voice. I know what you've been doing, the podcast, 322 00:19:32.559 --> 00:19:36.480 the TV show, all that bigfoot nonsense. You've made some 323 00:19:36.599 --> 00:19:39.920 powerful enemies. Maybe this is a sign you should reconsider 324 00:19:39.960 --> 00:19:44.519 your priorities. Is that a threat? It's advice, take it 325 00:19:44.599 --> 00:19:48.920 or leave it. He walked away, his deputies trailing behind him. 326 00:19:49.559 --> 00:19:53.559 I watched them go. My hands clenched into fists. Daniel 327 00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:57.400 touched my arm. Let it go, Brian, fighting him won't 328 00:19:57.480 --> 00:20:02.319 change anything I know with this, I gestured at the ruins. 329 00:20:02.759 --> 00:20:05.559 This can't stand. They can't just burn down our home 330 00:20:05.640 --> 00:20:09.359 and walk away. Then make them pay, not with fists, 331 00:20:09.960 --> 00:20:14.000 with truth. Amanda flew in from Los Angeles the next day. 332 00:20:14.519 --> 00:20:17.759 She surveyed the damage, interviewed Daniel and me on camera, 333 00:20:18.279 --> 00:20:22.880 documented everything the Sheriff's department had conveniently overlooked. Her crew 334 00:20:22.920 --> 00:20:26.440 found the accelerant marks I'd mentioned. They found footprints that 335 00:20:26.519 --> 00:20:30.640 didn't match any of ours, boot prints military style, leading 336 00:20:30.680 --> 00:20:33.720 away from the house toward the road. This is going 337 00:20:33.759 --> 00:20:36.920 to be part of the series, Amanda said, the whole story, 338 00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:41.319 the investigation, the threats, the cover up, and now this. 339 00:20:42.119 --> 00:20:45.440 People need to see what they're doing to silence you. 340 00:20:45.440 --> 00:20:48.839 You're not afraid it'll make the network nervous. The network 341 00:20:48.880 --> 00:20:53.000 is already nervous. They've been getting pressure, vague calls from 342 00:20:53.079 --> 00:20:57.960 unnamed government sources, questions about our editorial standards, hints that 343 00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:02.279 our broadcast license might face screw. But they're standing firm. 344 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:05.440 This story is too big to walk away from. 345 00:21:05.720 --> 00:21:06.400 What about you? 346 00:21:06.839 --> 00:21:10.640 Aren't you worried about becoming a target, Amanda smiled grimly. 347 00:21:11.319 --> 00:21:14.960 I've been a target before. Documentary filmmakers aren't popular with 348 00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:17.680 the powers that be, but you can't scare someone who's 349 00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:21.200 already committed to the truth. We moved into a rental 350 00:21:21.240 --> 00:21:24.400 cabin about ten miles from our property. It was smaller 351 00:21:24.440 --> 00:21:27.359 than the house we'd lost, but it was safe, or 352 00:21:27.400 --> 00:21:31.079 as safe as anywhere could be. Now, the community rallied 353 00:21:31.119 --> 00:21:35.440 around us. Donations poured in from podcast listeners and forum members, 354 00:21:35.960 --> 00:21:39.720 enough to replace the equipment we'd lost, enough to start rebuilding. 355 00:21:40.519 --> 00:21:44.400 Messages of support flooded my inbox, people who'd been inspired 356 00:21:44.440 --> 00:21:48.039 by the podcast, who'd found validation in the stories I'd shared, 357 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:51.319 who wanted us to know we weren't alone. And the 358 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:54.799 interviews continued. I refused to let the fire stop me. 359 00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:59.319 If anything had strengthened my resolve. They'd tried to silence me, 360 00:21:59.799 --> 00:22:04.680 and they'd failed. Every episode I recorded, every witness I interviewed, 361 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:08.119 every story I shared, was a victory against the forces 362 00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:11.279 that wanted the truth to stay hidden. A week after 363 00:22:11.319 --> 00:22:15.759 the fire, the investigation took an unexpected turn. The ATF 364 00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:21.160 Bureau of Alcohol tobacco, firearms and explosives reached out to us. 365 00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:24.279 A young agent named Sarah Brown had been assigned to 366 00:22:24.279 --> 00:22:28.559 review the case. Unlike Sheriff Weston, she actually did her job, 367 00:22:29.440 --> 00:22:33.039 mister Patterson, The accelerant patterns at your property are consistent 368 00:22:33.079 --> 00:22:36.559 with professional grade and scendiary devices, she said during our 369 00:22:36.599 --> 00:22:39.960 first meeting. This wasn't some amateur with a gas can. 370 00:22:40.519 --> 00:22:43.920 Whoever did this had training. Will you be able to 371 00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:46.920 find them? I'm going to try, but I have to 372 00:22:46.960 --> 00:22:50.160 warn you there are forces pushing back on this investigation, 373 00:22:50.839 --> 00:22:53.640 people above my pay grade, asking questions about why federal 374 00:22:53.680 --> 00:22:56.079 resources are being used on a simple house fire. 375 00:22:56.680 --> 00:22:57.519 She met my eyes. 376 00:22:58.200 --> 00:23:01.920 Whatever you're doing with your podcast, your documentary, you've made 377 00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:06.039 some powerful enemies, I know. Then you should also know 378 00:23:06.119 --> 00:23:09.359 that you've made some allies. Not everyone in government wants 379 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:12.359 these secrets kept. There are people who believe the public 380 00:23:12.400 --> 00:23:15.160 has a right to know. She handed me her card. 381 00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:19.599 Call me if anything else happens, and be careful. I 382 00:23:19.640 --> 00:23:23.000 showed Daniel the card that night. This could be a setup, 383 00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:28.680 he said. They've used fake allies before to gather intelligence. Maybe, 384 00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:31.960 but my gut says she's genuine. Someone who joined law 385 00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:36.720 enforcement to actually pursue justice, not cover it up. Daniel 386 00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:40.880 was quiet for a moment, like you were, Yeah, like 387 00:23:41.000 --> 00:23:43.920 I was. I looked out the window at the mountains. 388 00:23:44.559 --> 00:23:48.559 We keep going, the documentary, the podcast, all of it. 389 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:52.039 They burned down our house, but they didn't destroy us, 390 00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:55.440 and the mount Saint Helen's documents are already out there, 391 00:23:55.920 --> 00:23:58.880 backed up in a dozen places, shared with journalists and 392 00:23:58.880 --> 00:23:59.960 researchers around the world. 393 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:02.559 World. They can't put that genie back in the bottle. 394 00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:07.440 What about Austin, Have you heard anything? I shook my head. 395 00:24:07.960 --> 00:24:12.119 The question haunted me every day. Austin reeves somewhere in 396 00:24:12.119 --> 00:24:16.079 those mountains or nowhere at all, alive and living among 397 00:24:16.119 --> 00:24:19.559 the creatures are dead and buried in some unmarked hollow. 398 00:24:20.400 --> 00:24:23.720 The not knowing was the hardest part. We keep looking, 399 00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:28.480 I said, We keep telling the stories, and someday maybe 400 00:24:28.559 --> 00:24:34.000 we'll find our answers. I love you, Daniel said, you stubborn, idealistic, 401 00:24:34.079 --> 00:24:39.160